


The Story

by yuletide_archivist



Category: Christian Bible (Old Testament), תנ"ך | Tanakh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-12-20
Updated: 2006-12-20
Packaged: 2018-01-25 03:51:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1630022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuletide_archivist/pseuds/yuletide_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based upon the story of Ruth (Bible), this piece examines the characters of Ruth, Naomi, and Orpah. It's inspired by the CD "Beauty from Pain 1.01" by SuperChick.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Story

**Author's Note:**

> Author's notes: This story is for Ari, thus it has a surprise twist at the end. Many of you may wonder why I chose to write it the way I did. Ari is the only one that can answer that. Please know that this isn't the originally intended story. Due to a natural disaster, I wasn't able to finish the other. If you would like me to finish it, just let me know after the names are revealed. 
> 
> Written for Ari

 

 

To: Ari  
Title: The Story  
Fandom: The Bible: Ruth   
Characters: Naomi, Ruth, Orpah, and others  
Rating: PG

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukah! Blessed be on Yule!

\--------~~~~~**@**~~~~--------

Death...

It came and went, like the waves of the sea. It was simply a part of life. Just like the waves, sometimes it hit the shores harder than others.

This time it had hit with the full impact of a storm behind it, taking two of their own family.

It was strange how life worked, God giving and taking away...

Ruth stood, from where she sat quietly upon her knees. She could hear the quiet sobbing coming from inside the nearby building. Built of mud brick, reinforced by wood, it had been one of the finest and most sturdy houses in the entire village.

As a young woman of 14, she had been offered up to this family of Hebrews that had left their homeland due to a famine. She had little choice in the matter, one of their son's had needed a wife, and a bargain had been struck. Such was the way of the people of Moab. Daughters cemented relationships between families, providing willing hands and ready wombs.

Truth be told, Ruth knew she was lucky. Other women entered into marriage, and they were beaten by their husbands, their husbands' fathers, their husbands' mothers, and various other family members. A marriage often was entered into with many tears by the young women promised into it.

Occasionally there ended up being love involved, but it was considered a final blessing, and something to embrace after the fact. Ruth had heard of her mother-in-law's love of her own husband. Ruth never had the privilege of knowing the gentle man who followed the God of the Hebrews. He had passed before Ruth's marriage to his son.

In fact, the marriage was necessitated by the death of Naomi's husband. The family needed ready and able hands.

The sobbing quieted from within the mud brick home. Ruth rose, glancing at her sister by marriage--Orpah. Several years younger than herself, Ruth felt more like a mother to the younger woman than a sister. So much had fallen to Ruth's slender shoulders as Naomi aged. Orpah's husband, himself, was sickly by nature.

Ruth nodded towards the door, and Orpah glanced at the fire. As a clear follower, not willing to shake the boat, Orpah was one to avoid anything remotely confrontational. Ruth sighed softly, resigned to the fact that for Orpah walking into this house would be akin to walking to her own death.

Ruth stuck her head in the door. "Naomi?" She called out to her mother-in-law. With no answer, the anxious knot in her stomach tightened. Last night, Naomi had taken to throwing empty clay pots against the wall. Ruth knew that Naomi had no intention of hurting her--only engaging in the behavior to get rid of the grief that continued to well inside of her. While hot in temperament, and perhaps a wee bit melodramatic, Naomi was at her heart a beautiful woman. She radiated a goodness that few could possibly manifest. In many ways Ruth felt closer, and safer, with Naomi than she did with her own mother.

Yes, Ruth could only feel bless to have found a family so honorable to marry into.

Ruth walked through the main living space, to the narrow door at the back of the room. She pushed aside the heavy fabric, and entered the gloomy windowless space that housed Naomi's sleeping quarters.

There Naomi stood, pushing items into a leather bag. It only took a second or two for Ruth to figure out something was terribly and horribly wrong.

"Where are you going?" Ruth asked, standing still--hesitant to move.

"Home to Bethlehem..." Naomi's voice trailed, a strange note of resignation in her voice.

Ruth turned towards the door. "I'll tell Orpah that she should begin to pack for our trip."

Naomi turned around, her voice lowering with grief filled anger. "No. You and Orpah should go back to your mother's tents. They will find you new husbands." She lifted the sleeve of her robe, wiping the tears from her eyes.

Ruth lowered her eyes to the ground, pausing for a brief moment before responding. At 45 years, Naomi could travel back to Judah on her own if she traveled with others. It made sense for Naomi to travel back to the land of her fathers. However, something didn't seem right. "Which direction do you plan on going?"

"To the South," Naomi answered, going back to her packing.

Through the desert, not a good sign. Even though the way was less mountainous, the desert posed its own threats. "Are you sure that is the way that you wish to take? The safest course would be to travel with one of the merchant caravans through the north road." As the Dead Sea divided Moab from Judah, it necessitated that travelers go around the body of water--and not take the direct route straight to Judah.

Naomi glanced back at Ruth. She paused for a moment, resignation and grief written in her eyes. "I don't think I can handle the climb."

Ruth knew she referred to the rising mountains to the north of them, bordering the northern part of Moab. "The merchants will help you. We still have some of my dowry set aside to insure you a safe trip home."

Naomi returned to packing, her eyes focusing on her solitary bag. It was then Ruth realized exactly what she was packing. Her sack contained items that were more like mementos than anything that might help her upon her journey. Naomi fingered a small blanket, obviously one used to hold a baby. Then she shoved it into her bag. It was only then that she spoke. "No, that money is for you..." She paused, as if each word required effort to say. "You will need it if you are to find a new husband."

Ruth walked over to stand behind Naomi. She placed a hand on Naomi's shoulder, causing Naomi to flinch slightly. "Naomi, when I married your son and came into this household, I became a member of your family. Regardless of the death of my husband, I am still your daughter." The last words trailed off softly in the same tone Ruth used to sooth the neighborhood children. She squeezed Naomi's shoulder gently.

Naomi paused, frozen, unable to move. Ruth could see a solitary tear slide down over her tan cheek. After a pregnant moment of silence, Naomi went back to filling her bag.

Ruth turned, and walked out of the room. It was obvious Naomi was in no way able to make this decision.

Orpah approached Ruth. "What's going on? Is she okay?"

Ruth shook her head. "No, she isn't doing well." She walked over to where her own items were kept. "We need to pack our bags as we are going with her."

Concern filled Orpah's eyes. "Are you sure she's planning on leaving?" Timid by nature, Orpah hesitated from getting her own bag.

Ruth glanced up, sureness written in her eyes. "Yes, and we are going with her." She grabbed a water bladder, and laid it by the door. Ruth wasn't exactly sure what had caused this instinctive feeling that all wasn't right with Naomi. It was beyond simple grief. It was as if she had some purpose or physical goal, directed by pained resignation.

It was Orpah that voiced what Ruth's subconscious was attempting to manifest. "She isn't planning to wander off into the desert and die, is she?"

With Orpah's words, Naomi's strange behavior suddenly made sense--Baby blankets and small pieces of jewelry, instead of robes and water. Ruth glanced back at Orpah before hurrying to finish packing her bag. "You know what? I think you may be right." She pointed towards Orpah's own bag. "We need to hurry, I doubt she will be waiting for the next caravan to come through."

Orpah went to grab her bag, but continued to question Ruth. "Do you really think that we can stop her if she wants to die? Ruth, she's a woman who has lost her sons, her husband, and has little hope of ever marrying again. Maybe it's best if she goes on to be with them and her God..."

Ruth glanced up. While Orpah spoke with logic, and reason, she still couldn't believe the woman had voiced the thoughts outloud. "Shhh... Don't you think she can hear you?"

Orpah continued to pack. "I'm only stating the obvious, Ruth. You know if we go we could loose our own lives in the process. If we stay, we are at least guaranteed a life with our family. I know my own family would open their arms to have me return."

"After all that that woman has done for us, of what has happened to our own husbands', don't you think we owe it to her to get her through this at least? She has so much to give to everyone." Ruth responded, filling the water bladder from the main urn used to hold the household water stores.

Orpah glanced at the ground at Ruth's feet, obviously chastised by Ruth's words. Ruth continued, "It was her teachings and presence that kept our husbands from turning into aggressive animals. Do you think our husbands would have turned out so well if they had been raised within our own culture?"

"No." Orpah replied with one solitary word. Even with the sheltered life the girl had lead, she knew the propensity that Moabite men had regarding beating their wives. In Ruth's house, this had never occurred.

"Don't you think we owe it to this woman, whose kindness blessed us constantly, to make sure she makes it back to her people alive and well? Maybe there is someone there that can help pull her from her grief?" Ruth asked.

Orpah only nodded as she continued to fill her sack.

\--------~~~~~**@**~~~~--------

The Road to Judah

"I don't know how you did it, Ruth." Orpah stated from where they walked at least twenty feet behind Naomi, as she walked almost aimlessly along the road. Ruth led a lone donkey, big enough to carry a load, and yet small enough she hoped that it would attract any robbers. "How did you get her to agree to take the north road?"

"It was simple enough, once she realized that we were going to follow her wherever she went." Ruth commented, her eyes not leaving the woman who walked in front of them.

"Do you really think that she will go the entire way back to her homeland?" Orpah continued on with the conversation. Truth be told, Ruth wanted to hear nothing but the silence of the nature that surrounded them. "Do you think she might turn back?"

Ruth continued to watch the woman in question. Naomi stumbled a little, but righted herself. They had only traveled but a few miles from home, and thus the journey was young. "If you are having second thoughts Orpah, you are more than welcome to travel back to your family's house."

"It's not that Ruth, it's just that I have never been farther than the next village. What I know of the Hebrew ways is limited to what Naomi has taught me. What if we get to Bethlehem only to be shunned by her people. I've heard that they can be very exacting to people not of their faith." Orpah continued to prattle on.

Ruth sighed softly. She didn't know which was the worse draw for robbers, the donkey or the way Orpah continued to talk like a crow that had just had it's food taken from it by another. "Everything will be just fine if you have faith in Naomi's God. One with such demonstrable power will keep us safely in his hands. You just have to have faith in him."

"I didn't know that you had much faith in her deity. It isn't as if he really cares about us anyways..." Orpah replied.

"Faith is faith, Orpah. Those who preach often choose not to follow the path. It's like someone telling you were the road is, but refusing to walk it with you." Ruth glanced at Orpah, making eye contact with her. "I prefer to walk the path, but what I don' t need is the associated fan fair." She stopped, yanking on the donkey's lead line to keep it from dragging her to the ancient dried tuft of grass along the side of the road. "Actions speak louder than words."

That seemed to quiet Orpah for a moment. Ruth yanked upon the lead line yet again, and began to walk. She glanced up towards Naomi, only then realizing Naomi had come to a stop. It was as if she had come to a wall, unable to go any further. It took only a few moments for both Ruth and Orpah to come up behind her.

"It's time girls, it's time for both of you to go back!" Naomi ordered. "May the good Lord be kind to you, as you have been to me and my family. May he repay you both with a husband and the security that I know you both want!" She turned around, here eyes wild with emotion. Her body quaked, and she leaned against the piece of wood that she had adopted as her staff or walking stick.

"No, we won't leave you Naomi. We are going with you to your people." Ruth replied, quickly followed by Orpah's echo. "We won't let you face this trip alone."

Naomi fell forward, drawing both women into her arms. She kissed each of their cheeks, tears falling down her own face. "You both are good girls, blessings to my sons and my own self. I cannot ask you to make this trip with me. It's certain death."

"Then why do you go Naomi?" Orpah asked. "I am sure one of our families would more than welcome you into their own home."

Naomi shook her head, "No, such is not the way of my people--whom I need to be with."

Ruth grasped Naomi's hand, tears spilling from her eyes. "No, we won't let you make this trip alone. With the three of us, we will make it."

Naomi shook her head, not looking at either of the two women. "If you go with me, there will be no guarantee of another husband for either of you. You will be widows, and thus cursed to a life of poverty and begging. Even if I had another husband at this moment, and was blessed with two more sons, would you want to wait the twenty or so years until they were old enough to marry you?" She asked. "No it's best that you both go home to your mother's tents."

Orpah turned to Ruth. "What she says makes sense. We have lost so much, there is no reason for all of us to loose our lives just because our husbands have died. Listen to her Ruth, she makes sense."

Naomi pulled Orpah's head closer to her, and placed a soft kiss upon the woman's forehead. Then she glanced up to Ruth. "Listen to the girl, Ruth. She makes sense. Do you think I could live with the fact that I had ruined any future hope for you? I would be responsible for your poverty, and more than likely death. I couldn't live with that on top of what has happened to my sons." Grief filled her eyes.

Ruth bit her lip, attempting to gain control of the pain that continued to wash through her. "I cannot leave you Naomi. I couldn't live with myself if I knew I was responsible for your death."

"You would be a foreign widow, with no dowry." Naomi argued. "Go back with your sister-in-law," She ordered.

Ruth shook her head. "Your God is my God Naomi, and is one powerful enough to take care of all of us--if only you have the faith to embrace him."

Naomi pushed away, stumbling, the wildness in her eyes turned into a rampant storm of emotions. "God, where the heck was he when I needed him? Why did he take so much from me? He took my husband, and sons. Now he wants to take you both from me through death upon this trip." She ripped at her hair, loosening the scarf that covered her head. "I have no children, no husband, I have nothing. He has reduced me to ashes..." She paused, falling to her knees. "I have nothing that means anything to me anymore, so stop your preaching."

Ruth looked at Orpah, then back to Naomi. While suicide was frowned upon by both Moabites and the Hebrews, leaving your fate to God within the Wilderness was not. It was clear to Ruth that Naomi wanted this final bit of peace, but she simply couldn't let Naomi go. There was something between them, something powerful, a connection that seemed to defy words.

Naomi had never had to ask Ruth to complete a task, Ruth someone seemed to know what Naomi needed and when. Now, even amongst all of her pain, Ruth knew that this wasn't the ultimate fate that Naomi would want. It was simply the torture of loosing ones that you loved, that your body helped create.

Ruth looked to the sky, closing her eyes for a brief moment, hoping for something... anything...

"I will bring beauty from pain..." A soft, almost feminine voice seemed to whisper in her ear. Ruth glanced around, almost expecting the words to have come from Orpah. She shivered, as a cool breeze swirled around her ankles sliding up under her robes.

Ruth pulled Orpah closer to her, and whispered. "You go, I'll stay. It's the only way she will be both safe and have the knowledge that at least one of us is safe." With her words, Ruth watched the relief rise in Orpah's eyes. She nodded. Then she walked over to give Naomi a final hug and kiss.

Naomi's eyes widened as she realized Orpah wasn't being joined by Ruth. Ruth held up her hand, waiting for Orpah to leave. No, this was something that needed to stay between Ruth and Naomi--not be fodder for stories told around the campfire in the town that she had been raised in.

Once Orpah was far enough away, Ruth began to speak. "Naomi, I know you feel responsible for both of us, but I also feel responsible to you. Just as I told you yesterday, I am a member of your family. I am your daughter. Nothing can change that." She paused, then walked over to Naomi, helping her up from the ground. "Would you leave me, my mother, to a household that no longer embraces my ways... my God?"

Again, Ruth heard a sweet feminine voice whisper off in the distance. "I will bring beauty from pain..." She shivered, glancing out into the wilderness. Light was beginning to fade, and darkness was approaching.

"What is it Ruth?" Naomi asked, shivering.

Ruth shook her head. "It was nothing that you need to worry yourself about." She glanced towards a large rock form. "Let's find a place to bed down for the night."

Naomi shook her head. "You aren't coming with me Ruth. I need to know that you are safe as well. You say that you're my daughter, now obey my wishes."

"No Naomi. I won't obey you in this. I may be your daughter, but I am also a woman and able to make her own choices about what is right and what is wrong." Ruth placed her fingers over Naomi's lips when it seemed as if Naomi would respond. No it was better that she not allow her mother-in-law's grief to get a word in edgewise. "Don't force me to leave you. Don't make me turn back from following you. Where ever you go, I will go, and wherever you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Where ever you die, I will die, and I will be buried there with you." Ruth watched Naomi's eyes widen as she heard the words, knowing that words were more than a simple statement. They were a vow made in the presence of God. It was the final words that sealed the vow.

"May the Lord strike me down if anything, but death separates you and me!" Ruth swore, falling to her knees before the older woman.

Naomi only nodded, unable to answer the woman's heartfelt vow. Perhaps it was the will of God, perhaps it was something else, but the words were like a hand that reached out through the chaos of grief and pain, to become a small lifeline. She couldn't send Ruth away now. And while her heart felt the lifeline, her mind knew one resigning fact....

Nothing she could do would turn Ruth back from her vow. Now it was up to the both of them to make sure that they both survived the long trek back to Judah.

\--------~~~~~**@**~~~~--------

Lavender Lewis fingered the written pages. Oh this was lovely, very lovely indeed. Oh yes, it needed a little bit more work. There were several serious spelling and grammar errors that Anne needed to work out of it. There were places in the tale where the wording was rough, full of modern day colloquialisms and a tad bit of melodrama. Of course it wouldn't be a tale written by Anne Shirley if it didn't have melodrama, which was what made Anne... Anne. None-the-less, the tale was sound in pacing and construction, or at least she thought so.

Lavender folded the pages, slipping them back into the book Anne had let her borrow the last time she had come to tea. Tennyson, it had always been one of her favorites--had been was the correct term. Given the way Miss Shirley wrote, realism mixed with a liberal dose of melodrama, Lavender was assured that Miss Shirley would end up taking Tennyson's spot. Oh, she could hardly wait until Anne came to tea again.

"Charlotta!!!!!"

 

 

 


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